November 08, 2012

Kristen’s Interview with Première Magazine (Translation)

After playing this character for 5 movies, Kristen Stewart is clear: Bella Swan is now in the past. Confessions in the form of an assessment on this very special experience.

PREMIERE: How do you feel on the eve of the release of this final chapter?

KRISTEN STEWART: It’s strange… I feel the same thing every time I finish a movie, and it’s not more intense with this last Twilight, probably because this character was mine for so long. I put as much work in each one of my roles, except that most of the time I have to say goodbye to them after five weeks. Ultimately, it’s much more easier with Twilight: I spent so much time in that universe that I lived everything that had to be lived through this experience. I have a real feeling of accomplishment. There are a few movies for which I would have loved to go back and shoot more scenes after it ended, but not here. It’s over and done with. It’s behind me. I’m ready to move on.

PREMIERE: Except that we’re talking about five years instead of the usual five weeks… It’s almost like quitting your job.

KRISTEN: Let’s not forget that we didn’t shoot them one after the other. I haven’t only done that for five years, thankfully. That interview would have been totally different otherwise. I got to be in other movies between each different Twilight ones. That said, I wouldn’t have minded shooting them all in one go, but it’s impossible in terms of production. If I hadn’t worked in between each movies, I would have gone crazy. Therefore, I look back on this experience as a whole, but not as a chapter of my life, in the sense that those five years weren’t only dedicated to Twilight. The series brought a lot of things to me, professionally speaking. I am at a point in my carreer where I’m given the opportunity to challenge myself as an actress. And I’m lucky these days to be able to pick these roles, which is a rare luxury, I’m conscious of that.

PREMIERE: How has this experience changed you as an actress and as a person?

KRISTEN: When I feel a new or really strong emotion in my daily life, it helps my acting. I tell myself: “I need to remember this to use it later for a role.” I probably sound crazy by saying that but whatever. If I learned one thing during those five years, thanks to Twilight and other movies I made, it’s that it’s a good thing to be scared when you’re about to start a new project. I found a certain comfort in this anxiety that overwhelms you before shooting a movie, because I know that the best performances, the most authentic, are born from this. Now, I need a role that intimidates me. What changed in me as a person is very similar, the lines are blurred. Even though there’s no creative result, I do the same thing in my daily life than when I’m working: I Ask questions, all the time, before realizing that they don’t necessarily have an answer.

PREMIERE: Your emotions nourish your work, but is it the same the other way around? Are there certain roles that had an impact on your life?

KRISTEN: Sometimes, some scenes from a script will help you reveal things about yourself, yes. And it can be a real shock. In the same way, making a movie will help you bring to the surface qualities that you didn’t even know were in you in the first place, buried really deep inside. I’ve faked emotions, for example, that I had never felt before. And when I finally felt them, I told myself: “Ah, so that’s what it feels like…” It will, again, probably seem weird to you, and maybe I shouldn’t reveal that much, but I had never really kissed a boy before I did it in a movie. And when it happened “for real”, I told myself: “Wait, it’s my first kiss but I’ve already kissed someone in a movie.” So strange.

PREMIERE: Interesting…

KRISTEN: I know right…? (laughing)

PREMIERE: Do you sometime find yourself looking at pictures from the first Twilight? What do you see when you look at them?

KRISTEN: Me when I was 17.. (laughing) I often ask myself what my points of reference would be if I hadn’t been an actress, but the different stages of my life are marked by movies, and that our key experiences often happen on the set of a movie. Also, I spent my 18th birthday at the end of the first Twilight, a very important moment, especially in the life of a young woman. I remember it like it was yesterday.